Alaska Cruse Tour SB on Island Princess July 2011

Tuesday July 12

North to Alaska!

After a year and a half of anticipation, we were finally on our way to Alaska for our cruise tour – Fairbanks, Denali Princess and Mt. McKinley Princess – then boarding Island Princess at Whittier.

The participants in our adventure were my husband Paul, myself (JoAnn), our two daughters, Stephanie and Rachel, ages 14 and 11. This is our first trip to Alaska, and our third Princess cruise. Previously, we also sailed on the Island Princess in Dec. 2009 through the Panama Canal.

We left home about 10:30am for Waco airport (free parking!) and a short flight to DFW, followed by a four-hour flight to Seattle.

Seattle Airport

There we met up with Paul’s parents, Dave and Norene, and his brother, Brian. They are all very seasoned cruisers; in fact, Norene turned “Elite” on this cruise.

Our flight to Fairbanks was delayed about an hour due to problem with the drain in the galley. We arrived in Fairbanks about 11:30 local time (2:30 CDT). It was still daylight, although not sunny, more dusky and cloudy. We planned to have a couple of days in Fairbanks ahead of the official start of the cruise tour and booked two nights at Pike’s Landing Lodge www.pikeslodge.com , which is next store to the Fairbanks Princess Lodge. We piled our considerable amount of luggage and seven people in a rented van and drove the short distance from the airport to Pikes lodge.

Paul went to get the key and finally motioned for me and the girls to take our luggage to a cabin outside of the main lodge. The cabin door key would not work, and Paul trudged back to the desk to get another, only to we find the cabin only had one bed. Again, he trudged back; by now it was 12:30 a.m. (3:30 a.m. CDT). After much arguing with the desk attendant (his response to Paul’s insistence that we had a reservation for a room with two beds was to fill out a complaint card), we got another room. The room had a stale smoke smell but at this point we were glad to get anything.

Despite the initial first impression of the hotel, the grounds of Pike’s Landing are very nice with lots of flowers and it is on the river. There is a nice little gift shop and the daytime desk crew was better than the guys at night. The second day our room had been aired out and the linens changed so the smoke smell was gone.

Wednesday July 13

Paul, girls and I had breakfast at the Cookie Jar restaurant www.cookiejarfairbanks.com. Paul had their specialty, a giant cinnamon roll. This place was on the Diner, Drive-ins and Dives show on the Food Network. Good local place. We were pleased with the service, the food and the price.

After breakfast, we met up with the rest of the family and drove to North Pole, Alaska. The light posts in North Pole are candy-striped, and the “north pole” itself is prominently displayed.

At the Santa’s House, www.santaclaushouse.com we saw reindeer

and even saw Santa himself getting out of his truck. He waved. We bought some ornaments and a magnet at Santa Claus House then drove back to Fairbanks.

July 13 continued

We were looking for Fairbank’s historic downtown – something in the order of Skagway – but there is not much to see downtown. At the plaza we took some photos and saw some Iditarod sled puppies.

Lunch at was at an Italian restaurant called Gambardella’s www.gambardellas.com. We ate on the deck. The food was excellent and the service was good. Sitting on the deck was warm when the sun peaked out from the clouds and cool when it did not. (Bring sunscreen)

July 13 continued

After lunch we headed to Chena Hot Springs www.chenahotsprings.com. It was an hour drive northeast of Fairbanks.

We walked around admiring flowers in old rusted mining equipment and cars.

Some were bathing in the outdoor springs which decidedly had a sulfur smell.

We walked to the kennel and were greeted by several dogs running and barking at us. A little scary but they were just excited to see us, they were very used to company. The young woman in charge gave us a nice demonstration of the different types of sleds. Then she got out the harnesses to hitch up the dogs and they all went wild. Pick me! Pick me! The girls had a great ride with very excited dogs, about 10 minutes.

July 13 continued

On the way back to Fairbanks, we saw a moose cow and her calf by the side of the road. We stopped the car and went to see a little closer up, leaving the windows down for the people still in the van. When we returned, the van was full of mosquitoes!

For dinner, we went to Silver Gulch Brewery www.silvergulch.com for dinner.

We had been looking for a local brewery and it had been featured on the Food Network as well. Unfortunately, service was terrible. We waited and waited, and finally a man who was playing shuffle board near us said he was the owner. Service was still bad after we explained our situation. He comped us the meal. We definitely would not recommend.

Thursday, July 14

We had breakfast at the hotel -- was OK, not great. We talked to our young waiter who is a student at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks – he said he has lived in Fairbanks his whole life and wouldn't live anywhere else. He was a pleasure to talk to and answered our questions about life in the Great North.

After breakfast, the family went to the Museum of the North at the University www.uaf.edu/museum -- very interesting building, but I thought $10 entry fee was a little steep.

The collection houses Native Alaskan artifacts as well as early Alaskan pioneers. I liked the information about women pioneers – have to look into that some more.

Lunch was at the Cookie Jar since we told the rest of the family how much we enjoyed breakfast the day before. Food was still good but the service pretty slow – the place was packed. As we waited I watched two young moms talking and preoccupied with their phones while their small children put knives in their mouths. I wanted to smack them.

After lunch we moved our stuff to the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge --quite a different feeling from the Pike's Landing hotel!

I walked around and admired the flower baskets everywhere and checked out the two recreated pioneer cabins.

We decided to try out Hot Licks ice cream www.hotlicks.net in town which has homemade ice cream with unique Alaskan flavors like Alaskan Cranberry.

We called Bambo Panda for takeout Chinese and later Paul and I sat on the hotel deck and had a beer/wine and coffee. The deck is great – nice view of the river and great food and service. We talked to our waiter Chris and the dining room manager David.

Friday July 15

We started the day with coffee and a cinnamon roll from the gift shop (a very reasonable alternative to the breakfast buffet). We headed out on buses to the Discovery riverboat http://riverboatdiscovery.com/ at just after 8 am. The bus took us to the riverboat landing, which was a collection of gift shops.

The Discovery III is a paddle wheeler with four decks.

I expected this to be pretty cheesy from what I had read on Cruise Critic but I loved the fact the enterprise is family owned and the fourth generation of steamship captains are at the helm. My MIL remarked how clean the windows were. Coffee and donuts were supplied (hot chocolate for a small fee).

The trip up the Tanana River passed by the kennels of Susan Butcher, the late Idatarod champion.

The trip was narrated by a local radio announcer. The river was lined with mostly large modern homes surrounded by lush green lawns. We stopped at a "fish camp" where a young woman of Native Alaskan descent demonstrated cutting and smoking salmon.

July 15, Continued

We got off the boat and split into three groups lead by young women who told about their culture. The recreated village was very impressive and the two sisters leading our group were friendly and informative with a great dry, comedic sense of timing. (“What’s the difference between caribou and reindeer?” Pause. “Reindeer fly.”)

There was a young woman talking about how they raise dogs for Iditarod races and everyone had a chance to pet them.

We walked around the village for about an hour. I enjoyed this part of the tour very much.

July 15, continued

Back at the dock, we ate beef stew, biscuits and blueberry muffins at long tables. Another Iditarod champion, Lance Mackey, was interviewed by the radio guy and was available for photos or book signing. Paul and the girls had their photo taken with him and his dog.

We also tried the "40 below" experience – going into a freezing closet that’s 40 below. Photo extra.

Back on the buses, we drove a little north of Fairbanks to the Eldorado Gold Mine http://eldoradogoldmine.com/ where we rode on a train through a tunnel to an area set up with a sluice for a demonstration.

The demonstration was led by with an old miner looking guy and several young cowboy assistants.

We then went to an area of troughs with pans and small containers like film canisters set in every place. The cowboy guys handed us each a bag of dirt to try our luck. At first we didn't think we had any gold but we all managed with the help of the cowboys and bus drivers to gather up the little grains.

I had $24 in gold which in gave to my daughter to put in a necklace. (An idea for the future – how about everyone on the tour pooling their gold and holding a lottery?)

Back at the hotel I washed clothes then we all ate on the patio. I love dining al fresco whenever possible and it was beautiful although hot! In talking to the dining room manager we mentioned we had gone to Silver Gulch Brewing for our anniversary and what a disappointment it was when he said that dessert was on him!

Saturday, July 16

Our time in Fairbanks was over – we boarded the bus for Denali at 9 am and arrived about noon. It was rainy and overcast (not a problem for me, we haven’t seen rain in months, I enjoyed it.) Our driver pointed out a few things along the way.

We stopped in Nenana http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nenana,_Alaska for a quick potty break. The building has a little museum and some crafts for sale. There was a long line for the bathroom. Paul and Dave took off on foot instead and quickly (very quickly) explored the town. This is where you can enter the lottery to see when the ice will break.

When we arrived at the Denali Princess, we first had a quick lunch across the street at Subway. The weather was cloudy and very cool.

Our room was in building 10 facing the river. Coming out of the lobby of Building 10 to the patio was an amazing experience – what a view! (Hint for Princess – buy some outdoor space heaters and put that patio to use!)

There is a walkway along the river connecting Buildings 10 and 11 to the main part of the hotel and shops. Flowers and rustic looking cabins, very beautiful.

The main lodge has two levels with many, many places to see on the upper level, giving it the appearance of a fancy bus station with comfortable seats. But as tours come and go, all of the seats are occupied with many others standing. The lower level has tables, a snack bar and of course, the gift shop. Wi-Fi is available in the lodge as well as the lobby of Building 10.

We had tickets for the Denali Music Dinner Theater which was fun although a bit cheesy. Bring your corny sense of humor to enjoy. The food was pretty good and very plentiful. The actors are also the waiters and will stand at the door afterwards for tips. Afterwards we walked around – stores were still open and it was still daylight although cloudy and cool.

Sunday, July 17

I got up early and went to the lobby of building 10 where they have coffee and pastries for sale. I took my iPad and spend a little time with email and reading the news.

We had Natural History tour of Denali National Park scheduled for the morning. I have heard on Cruise Critic and from others on our tour that the Natural History Tour was not as good as the others that were an additional cost, but for us, with two kids, five hours was about the right amount of time and I don’t think they would have lasted for a longer tour. So we were more than satisfied with our tour.

The tour guide was named Alaina and gave us a good tour. She told us that the aim of the park was to preserve wildlife and landscape so they do nothing to encourage or discourage the natural processes. We stopped to see the Savage Cabin originally used by builders of the park road and since 1941 by park rangers. There was an interpretive ranger there who told us about the cabin.

Back on the bus for a bit, we then got off and we heard about the Native Alaskans from another interpretive ranger named Bill.

And we saw a caribou. Five hours went by quickly -- it was just enough time.

Back at the lodge, we stopped at the old time photo place and took a photo of all seven of us.

For supper we went to Prospectors Pizza and Alehouse http://prospectorspizza.com/ across the street from the lodge. They had tons of photos and hides of animals on the walls. The pizza was good. Go early, it gets crowded.

Monday, July 18

We loaded onto a bus that took us to the train station. It was rainy and continued to rain as we waited for the train. We sat on the bus waiting for the train to arrive and saw a moose and her calf in a wooded area of the parking lot.

Our train was said Holland America on it, it was the Euklund car and our hostess was a young college student named Ashley. It’s a double decker sort of train – Greyhound bus type of seating upstairs and the dining car downstairs. In addition to Ashley we had a bartender at the front of the car.

We ordered drinks -- hot chocolate for the girls, Irish coffee for Paul and hot chocolate with a shot of peppermint schnapps for me. The scenery passed by and Ashley told us about the towns we were passing through. We went downstairs for lunch -- Paul had a burger, the girls split a chicken pesto sandwich and I had a turkey BLT.

All of them were good and not too terribly expensive, especially considering we were a captive audience. It was cold in the train – the defrosters were on so the windows remained clear.

We arrived in Talkeetna after four hours that went by very quickly. At the station, we were met by a bunch of busses. The drivers all had packets for our next leg. Very efficient. It was about an hour drive to the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge. Our bus driver pointed out the town of Talkeetna and told us the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge is off the grid -- powered by three diesel generators. It was still rainy and we didn't see Mt. McKinley/Denail. The lodge has a big picture window and decks for viewing. It seems more like a ski lodge with the wood smoke aroma.

We ate dinner at 20302 restaurant -- not great service but food was OK. Since the town is an hour away, we're a captive audience. I was nursing a sore throat from the train so I ordered the Italian sausage soup, McKinley cobbler (apples and cranberries) and coffee. The cobbler was plentiful and very hot, I recommend it.

Tuesday, July 19

My sore throat was now a chest cold. But when I looked out the window I saw the bright snow-covered mountain so got quickly dressed and took some photos.

In the lodge, we purchased tickets and watched a video of the Northern Lights set to symphonic music. Felt pretty crummy so went back to bed for a few hours. Later in the afternoon doctored sufficiently with Advil and Robitussen so joined the family in the lodge.

Rachel worked for hours on a puzzle and Stephanie read her book. Set out our luggage for 6 a.m. pickup

Wednesday, July 20

The bus picked us at 11 and drove about an hour to the train. This train has only one level with tables with seating for four but no dining car but it does have a “club car.”

We were visited by some of the friends we made and had a great conversation with Carolyn who lives in NYC. In anchorage the rep from Princess boarded and checked us in. We had to show her our passports which she scanned into her computer.

The scenery south of Anchorage was beautiful.

We got our keys as we got off the train in Whittier. Beautiful blue skies all the way. We went through a long security line and then found our room -- B218 -- the same as we had on the Island Princess in December 2009 in Panama. Although it was late and we were tired we had dinner in the dining room instead of the buffet. I had prime rib and passion fruit soufflé.

Thursday, July 21

Slept in until 8:30 (late for me) and walked along the Lido deck after having breakfast at the buffet. I was surprised to see so many people sunning and even swimming.

The girls worked on a puzzle in the afternoon in the Card Room. They had their own room keys and the Ultimate Kids Package, as well as pizza and hamburgers any time they wanted, so they were pretty free to roam around. They really enjoyed their independence. About 4:30 we got to Hubbard Glacier.

Dinner was the formal night and champagne fountain. I had the cheese plate, Cesar salad, and Cornish hen. We asked about our favorite waiter Alvin from the Panama cruise on Island Princess but heard he went home for two weeks because his MIL passed away. The girls completed the puzzle (500 pieces) and Norene, Brian, Paul and I went to the Crooners bar and had martinis.

Friday, July 22

Voyage of the Glaciers

We started up the Icy Strait and saw some whale spouts. We continued up Glacier Bay accompanied by two park ranger naturalists.

The weather was clear and not overly cold – I was comfortable with a fleece hoodie and a light lined windbreaker.

We saw a slide presentation by Ranger David in the Princess Theater about bears -- he was pretty entertaining. The lady ranger did commentary over the PA system -- a little too dramatized for my taste (“Use your imagination to feel the surface of the rocks, imagine the grinding of the glaciers....”) -- and we headed toward the Margerie Glacier.

We all split up from the family with everyone doing their own thing but I was able to see some calving action from the front and the Lido deck as well as the Promenade. It was another unusually bright and clear day. There were some swimming in the outdoor pool – I guess they wanted to say they went swimming in Glacier Bay!

Dinner that evening in the MDR with our waiter Anthony. His favorite phrase brought the girls to fits of giggles, “Good evening, happy people!”

For dinner I had marinated grilled (but cold) vegetables, apple soup (kind of a cross between baby food and apple oatmeal), and surf and turf -- steak and shrimp. Crème Brule for dessert. We went to see Dan Horn the ventriloquist afterwards. His show was funny, pretty much PG rated. The girls enjoyed him so much they went back to see the later show with our new shipmate friends Carolyn and Melissa.

Saturday, July 23

Skagway

I woke up to find we had already docked in Skagway alongside the Sea Princess and directly behind the HAL ship Volendam. We had breakfast in the buffet and headed out to see the town.

The buildings were beautifully restored but housed about 300 jewelry stores and just as many souvenir shops. The streets were crowded with tourists from the three ships. We walked around for a short while then headed back to the ship for a quick lunch.

We had tickets to the White Pass and Yukon Railroad in the afternoon. The three hour round trip was beautiful -- over bridges and creeks and past the gold miners trail to the summit and just over the border into Canada.

We were able to stand on the platform outside the restored railcar (but not cross over from car to car) and it was exhilarating – better than any ride at Six Flags.

The weather was beautiful all day -- we had a drink before dinner on the Lido deck by the pool. Dinner was Italian Night -- Paul gave Rachel a taste of escargot without telling her what that meant. I had the cheese plate, salad, shrimp and tiramisu. We went to see the comedian Jim McDonald www.comedianjimmcdonald.com/HOME.html but about half of his jokes went over the girls’ heads as they were topical though not obscene or anything. After the show, Paul and I stood on the Promenade and watched as the ship sailed past tall waterfalls.

To be continued!

Great review. Can't wait to read the rest of it.

Loved reading your review and look forward to the rest.

loving your review- we sail in a year, so thanks for sharing all your great pictures and comments.

Great review! Your photos really enhance the narrative. Will be watching for future installments.

Sunday, July 24

Juneau

After gorgeous weather for several days, our luck ran out and we got a day of "real" Alaska weather in Juneau. We had a 9:30 am excursion to the state museum, fish hatchery, rain forest gardens and Mendenhall Glacier www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/districts/mendenhall/.

We boarded the bus with our driver Phil, a grad student working his third summer here as a bus driver. He took us through town past the state Capitol – the town felt like a miniature San Francisco. The museum had collections of Native Alaskan artifacts and early Alaskan photos from 1860s that you could view through a stereoscope. I was told by my daughters I spent too much time reading the captions. We also enjoyed the flowers in front of the museum. Flowers just seem to effortless grow in Alaska!

Next to the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery http://dipac.net/Macaulay_hatchery.html. The salmon were aggressively climbing up the fish ladder. The guide explained that the salmon were stunned and eggs and sperm removed. Then the eggs were fertilized and the baby salmon allowed some maturity before they were released into the wild. The baby salmon imprinted their birthplace and would return up the fish ladder.

Next was the Green Angel Garden which is only open to cruise ship tours. The couple who own welcomed us to the rain forest by handing out umbrellas for our short walk. They talked about the climate and the local landscape and gave us spice tea and apple muffins.

July 24, continued

We rode to Mendenhall Glacier and Paul took a photo of an eagle, pretty cool to see it close up.

The glacier is pretty close and you can see the icebergs that calved off. It was raining the entire time but we enjoyed it. If I had had more time I would have walked to the falls next to the glacier but I was already pretty wet and cold.

Dave and Norene hopped on the crew bus and went to Costco. (You have to understand, they LOVE Costco.) The crew members were taking advantage of being in port to shop at Costco and Walmart and didn’t seem to mind they tagged along.

Dinner was again formal -- lobster tails and giant prawns. We went to the magic show – James Michael, the “bad boy of magic.” He was very funny, more comedian than magician, and definitely pushing the boundaries of PG13.

Monday, July 25

Ketchikan

Pulling into the harbor, it was cloudy and foggy but no rain. We arrived about 9 a.m. in Ketchikan and Paul and I walked around with Norene and Brian while Dave took the girls shopping. We walked down Creek Street then took the funicular to the Westmark Cape Fox Lodge (nice views and a good bathroom stop), then down stairs and along the creek to the hatchery and totem pole museum.

I wanted a photo of the iconic Welcome to Ketchikan sign, so we walked to there and then back on the ship for lunch and some laundry.

A word about laundry: this was good day to do laundry as I figured everyone would want to do it on our last sea day. I brought soap, dryer sheets and rolls of quarters – the machines cost $1.50 each and the coin machines do not work. Some of my best conversations on ship take place in the laundry room!

After dinner, Stephanie, Rachel and I went to the Motor City Production and then hung around for the International Crew Show at 10:15 p.m. We’ve seen the Motor City show before but enjoyed it all over again. Two of the lead singers really stood out – an African American woman whose name I don’t know but she shines whenever she sings and has great chemistry with the other dancers. The male lead singer/dancer was Joe Sackenheim. If there was a photo to go with the definition of charisma it would be Joe’s. www.sackent.com/home

The International Crew Show started with a bunch of balloons being tossed into the crowd, blown up and batted around the Princess Theater. The performers had the audience on their feet with a rousing chorus of YMCA. The 10-year-old daughter of the maitre d' hotel played Für Elise to open the show, then two crew members played "Bus Stop" on their guitars and sang -- they were really good – reminded me of young Simon and Garfunkle. Another crew member sang "Bessa Me" in Spanish. A guy named Ben from Engineering sang "Delilah" and we all joined in on the chorus.

I keep looking at your pictures of the ship for a glimpse of my son in the backround-he's staff on the Island Princess (he was at the Motor City Show-a musician). Even though I haven't seen him, it's still been very interesting anyways. I love hearing about the cruise and seeing all the photos. I'm really glad you liked Joe Sackenheim, and I'll be sure to ask Matt about the woman singer you mentioned (and liked so much).