Princess VS RCCL for Alaska

[gertz]

Yes, they do. But for most lodges, those are your only options. There are no other facilities within walking distance so you can avoid the lodge prices.

 

Agree.:)

[Loonbeam]

My 2 cents:

 

Tour first... It's so much nicer doing the land travel then relaxing on the ship for two AMAZING sea days in College Fjord and Glacier Bay.

 

Look for itineraries that are all train travel. Not that the buses are bad, but the train is so much more comfortable.

 

In Denali, upgrade to the Tundra Wilderness Tour from the Natural History Tour. You go in much farther and see much more.

 

If you want some idea of what you will see, our pictures are at:

 

 

That was a 5 day land followed by 7 on the Coral.

 

Thank you all so much!! I have made our minds up!! We will go on princess and do the cruise tour! I am so excited about this vacation and its still almost 2 years away!!

[Loonbeam]

Fairbanks has a shuttle into town, where there are many dining options available if so inclined. (They have several hotels in Fairbanks so this may vary)

 

Denali has a Subway across the street as well as the Clam Bake and I think there was a BBQ place (that said the Princess Denali restaurant was really good, pricey, but no worse than center city Phila)

 

McKinley is in the middle of nowhere. There is a shuttle into town but not much there. Food was good, expect a wait if things are crowded.

 

Yes, they do. But for most lodges, those are your only options. There are no other facilities within walking distance so you can avoid the lodge prices.

[loliola]

Glacier Bay is an absolute must-see, IMO. Only a limited number of ships are allowed into Glacier Bay, and Princess and HAL get most of the permits, because they've been in Alaska the longest.

 

Round trip itineraries from Seattle do not make it far enough north for Glacier Bay, which automatically rules them out for me. Ideally, look for an itinerary that visits both Glacier Bay & Hubbard Glacier (Yakutat Bay). Princess has a southbound itenerary that does both. We did that one this summer, along with a land tour, and it was amazing.

 

 

It certainly went far enough north for Glacier Bay when I did my r/t Seattle cruise in August :eek: which was the high point of the trip!! Get a port side balcony if Glacier Bay is part of your itinerary - the early glaciers are on that side, and it is COLD! then warms up so you can do the rest of the bay viewing topside. We sailed Golden, it was lovely.

[MCC retired]

Now that the OP has decided on a Princess Alaska cruise/Tour vs just a Alaska Cruise , it's just the beginning of many questions as to which cruise/tour is for them .

Once they see how many different land tours (and $$$) are available, it's mind boggling :confused:(this from a former TA) .

 

I suggest planning this trip with a TA that has Alaska experience .

Many TA's book Alaska but you would be suprized (or perhaps not?) that many have never done an Alaska Cruise/Tour or even an Alaska cruise.

 

Check the princess website for agents in your area (or online) that have achieved "Commodore" status and be sure that they actually been there/done that.

[cindep]

And much as I love Princess ... we ended up "doing our own thing" for our land portion after we got off the Island. By planning early, we got a good deal on a car, discounts on our hotels, and customized the trip to suit ourselves. Alaska is VERY easy to drive (not that many roads) and there is much to see and do.

 

I've done the tour with Princess years ago, and while good, wouldn't take that route again. If you need information on "doing it yourself", the Alaska board has fantastic recommendations and assistance.

[renae83]

Oh yes I allready have a ton of questions. lol. Thank you so much!! I will be working with a TA this time around usually We dont bc I like to have control over my bookings but in this case I think it is a deffinate.

 

We are looking at the southren Cruise and a pre 3 night tour in denali. The one TA that I have spoken to said that everything is by bus until the last day when we would take the train the the cruise. Do you have any suggestions on if this is correct information and if this seems like a good plan? can you suggest a diffrent better iteniarary?

[jeepr]

I have only been twice southbound on the Coral Princess. I love her because she is a smaller ship if you can call her that. I have taken the southbound trip because I like the fact that although it's a longer flight to get there you don't care, it's ALASKA! But going home it's not a long drag out flight.

With the way things are, it's only in my dreams I can go again.

 

You will have a fantistic time, it's ALASKA!!

[Loonbeam]

I definitely recommend southbound and train as much as possible. More comfortable, and there is food and a bar onboard!

 

If you have the time, I recommend the itinerary we did (still available, if the dates work.

 

We flew into Fairbanks, for 2 nights, including a riverboat tour and trip to a gold mine for to pan some gold (you get to keep it)

 

Next day was a train trip to denali for 2 nights, included is Natural history tour (we upgraded to Tundra Wilderness)

 

Train to McKinley, 1 night, then train to ship.

 

I found a few similar options, not exactly the same. McKinley is nice, but skipping it would not be horrible:

 

Denali Explorer - Tour EB4 4-night Land Tour featuring 2-nights Fairbanks, 2-nights Denali Princess Lodge and a 7-night Voyage of the Glaciers cruise. - This one is all train and has the riverboat, gold mine and denali tour)

 

Denali Explorer - Tour IB6 6-night Land Tour featuring 2-nights Fairbanks, 2-nights Denali Princess Lodge, 2-nights Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge and a 7-night Voyage of the Glaciers cruise. - This is coach for first long leg however but rail from Denali to McKinley and McKinley to ship.

 

There used to be an FB5, thats what we did, but doesn't seem to be on the schedule right now..

 

 

 

Oh yes I allready have a ton of questions. lol. Thank you so much!! I will be working with a TA this time around usually We dont bc I like to have control over my bookings but in this case I think it is a deffinate.

 

We are looking at the southren Cruise and a pre 3 night tour in denali. The one TA that I have spoken to said that everything is by bus until the last day when we would take the train the the cruise. Do you have any suggestions on if this is correct information and if this seems like a good plan? can you suggest a diffrent better iteniarary?

[lopdx]

Glacier Bay is an absolute must-see, IMO. Only a limited number of ships are allowed into Glacier Bay, and Princess and HAL get most of the permits, because they've been in Alaska the longest.

 

Round trip itineraries from Seattle do not make it far enough north for Glacier Bay, which automatically rules them out for me. Ideally, look for an itinerary that visits both Glacier Bay & Hubbard Glacier (Yakutat Bay). Princess has a southbound itenerary that does both. We did that one this summer, along with a land tour, and it was amazing.

 

Golden Princess goes to Galcier Bay on it's round trip out of Seattle.

We are booked on it for July 2011.

We were on Holland America to Alaska this past June on the Oosterdam, round trip Seattle, and it also went to Glacier Bay;)

[Joe&KayCruisers]

This past July we took the Princess Diamond from Vancouver BC to Whittier, then to Denali and McKinley. We took the northbound route rather than southbound because a couple of us stayed in AK and fished the Kenai River for Kings.

 

Cruising northbound rather than southbound allowed us to stop at College Fjords which in our opinion was more spectacular than Glacier Bay (which was also quite cool.) The ship was allowed to travel and stop very close to the Glacier. We sat there for an hour and watched the glacier calving, seeing tons of glacier dropping into the water after the loud boom. It was incredible.

 

I understand that the southbound ship stops at another location rather than College Fjords, due to timing. I would hate to have missed the experience at CF.

 

We enjoyed the train ride north from Whittier to Denali, the two nights in Denali and one night in McKinley and the tours we took in each location. However if we were to do it again, we would rent a car and do our own touring. The land tour thru Princess was great but very expensive. We would prefer to create our own plan and be more flexible with our sightseeing.

[Loonbeam]

Our southbound stopped at college fjord and I see some of the itineraries do. I do recommend picking a trip that stops there if you can..

 

I may have linked these before, but pictures from our AK Cruisetour can be found here: (just click on Alaska). I have photos of the train, some of the lodges, glacier bay, etc...

 

 

This past July we took the Princess Diamond from Vancouver BC to Whittier, then to Denali and McKinley. We took the northbound route rather than southbound because a couple of us stayed in AK and fished the Kenai River for Kings.

 

Cruising northbound rather than southbound allowed us to stop at College Fjords which in our opinion was more spectacular than Glacier Bay (which was also quite cool.) The ship was allowed to travel and stop very close to the Glacier. We sat there for an hour and watched the glacier calving, seeing tons of glacier dropping into the water after the loud boom. It was incredible.

 

I understand that the southbound ship stops at another location rather than College Fjords, due to timing. I would hate to have missed the experience at CF.

 

We enjoyed the train ride north from Whittier to Denali, the two nights in Denali and one night in McKinley and the tours we took in each location. However if we were to do it again, we would rent a car and do our own touring. The land tour thru Princess was great but very expensive. We would prefer to create our own plan and be more flexible with our sightseeing.