Just Back from Southbound Sapphire and DIY Denali

[stlrod]

Highlights

 

The Ship--It's beautiful and the people great! The food is awesome (esp compared to Emerald Princess two years ago.) Entertainment could be better but wasn't bad (saw all production shows--those with orchestra better, comedian (very good) and illusionist (good but pace could be picked up.)

 

The Chef's Table--A very memorable experience worth every penny and more.

 

Ketchikan--Hired a taxi driver and had him take us to Totem Bight as soon as we got off ship (great being the only ones there.) We went back and picked up rest of party and he showed us south part of Ketchikan. We then walked Creek Street. When we had gone back to pick up the others in our party, a guy was offering Misty Fjord Flight Tours for $179 if all 6 went. My wife and I went back later and they took just us out for $199. The company, Seawind Aviation, is family-owned and top notch in every way. Cannot say enough about the quality of the experience they offer. Pilot landed in lake after spotting bears so we could get a closer look.

 

Juneau--Mendenhall was a neat experience. Harv and Marv's was okay but probably my least favorite excursion. The pilot seemed to be more of a "follower" when it came to spotting wildlife. Probably would not repeat. Red Dog was a lot of fun and Tracy's Crab Shack excellent.

 

Skagway--Book Chillkoot's bus-up, train down, dog sled experience. The trip, with only 17 on our bus, up to the Yukon was more intimate and the driver, Terrell, a genuine hoot. We saw 5 bears on the way, most right next to the bus. The dog sled experience was more informative than I thought it would be. (The lunch sucks but can't have everything.) The train back was awesome. You get different perspectives from the road and train.

 

Glacier Bay--Graet day and The Sanctuary experience for $60 is worth it. It was misty and windy at times, but we were snuggled in our blankets being catered to with included Ameretto coffee and much more. Once people start hearing about this package, it will book fast. Awesome close-up view with calving. Park ranger was superb. Naturalist's voice is a little irritating over speaker.

 

College Fjord--I guess Princess needs to do something to fill the time. It was very cold and rainy. This night, we ate early and the view from inside the steakhouse was great.

 

One final note--Sabitini's a disappointment. Food was just okay (but this night followed our chef's table experience.) Worst part was being interrupted by CD with updates on mechanical issues with the show curtain that night. Sterling Steakhouse was very well done (did not feel as if I was in the Horizon Court.)

 

Will update with a little information on the Denali part later, but feel free to ask any questions in the meantime.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for taking the time to share this summary of your trip with everyone.

 

Keith

[murphy4]

hi, what were the dates of your land portion and then the sea portion?

[stlrod]

We cruise June 2-9 and then headed to Denali for 2 nights afterwards with night flight coming back this morning.

 

As for Deanli, I highly recommend DIY. Many we had talked to said they wished they had done it that way so they could be on their own schedule. We used AK Cruise COnnect (a private driver) to transport 6 of us to downtown ANC where we picked up Avis rental cars and then headed to Denali. The drop charge was only $25 for the ANC airport and AK Cruise Connect was around $250 for the 6 of us (I recommend them highly.)

 

We checked into the Princess Deanil ($99 per night) which we had booked on the Princess website. The room was much better than expected (we were in building 5 which had just been reovated.) We ate at Salmon Bake and Prospector's Pizza across the street. Both were very good (the " which is topped with crab legs was great--it's priced at $52 but worth it.) We picked u0p sandwiches from Subway for our shuttle bu ride to Eileson. We had a great weather days and the McKinley was mostly out (in between two lousy days.) We saw lots of bears, caribou, moose and sheep (no wolves so we didn't get the grand slam.) It was a fantastic day.

 

The next day was cloudy and rainy. We headed to Talkeetna where we had booked a flightseeing tour with glacier landing with Sheldon Air Service. We knew that we might not be able to take the tour but while we were in Talkneetna, they called and said we would be going out at 3. We told them we had a tight schedule as our flight back was at 9:30 and needed to leave no later than 5:30. They were fairly disorganized having taken some climbers up which was causing them to run late and were booking new reservations downtown. We seriously questioned whether we should go, especially after Holly Sheldon Lee, offered to take me and my wife separately so that me, being a "bigger guy" would be more comfortable on the other plane. She kept repeating this was an expereince of a lifetime. What made her think me and my wife would want to experience it separately is beyond me. The flight was good and our pilot, Jock knew the geological makeup of teh land well. We were taken to Base Camp which was a great experience, but I couldn't help but feel as if I was intruding on the campers, especially after sensing Jock's initial reluctance to go to Base Camp and seeing him "apologize" to the campers for bringing us there. We had absolutely gorgeous views and witnessed a small avalanche. All in all, a good experience but probably not as good as our Misty Fjords flightseeing experience with another family-operated aviation company. We returned at 6pm and barely made our flight. I think the worry about making the flight probably detracted from the experience and it may have been better for SAS to just have said, "Sorry guys, we can't accomodate you today."

 

So, that's my trip in a nutshell. Feel free to ask questions.

 

One other note. We met a couple who had taken Celebrity down to Vancouver and they were very, very disappointed with Celebrity compared to Princess.

[geoherb]

Welcome back. We'll be on the Sapphire in August doing the southbound cruise. Do you remember the names of the production shows? We've probably already seen them, but will still go again.

[stlrod]

Welcome back. We'll be on the Sapphire in August doing the southbound cruise. Do you remember the names of the production shows? We've probably already seen them, but will still go again.

 

Do You Wanna Dance

Got the Music in Me

Born to Be Wild (new)

 

The second two were better.

[gometros]

We're doing this cruise in one year. Can you tell me more about the Sanctuary Experience. It sounds interesting and I don't see it listed under excursions for our cruise yet.

[Smokeyham]

We're doing this cruise in one year. Can you tell me more about the Sanctuary Experience. It sounds interesting and I don't see it listed under excursions for our cruise yet.

 

I'm also interested in learning more about the sanctuary. We will have a balcony cabin, so is it worth the extra to be there? Also, can you confirm that was $60 per person for the day?

[stlrod]

We booked the Sanctuary on board the first day. We had sailed Princess before and took our friends up to see it. We didn't know about the package and then saw a sign when we got up there. We were able to book 6 chairs along the side. It was perfect as you could walk to the other side and get a 360 view. We were protected from the wind and somewhat from the rain. They did a very good job of keeping those who had not booked it out of the Sanctuary. It included a Princess thermal cup with hot chocolate or coffee (with alcohol if you wanted it), Sanctuary earmuffs which they told us to keep and a photo (it may also have included other items as well of which I was not aware). They provided us with blankets and served some pastries in the morning and clam chowder later. You could also order off the Sanctuary menu. They also had speakers in the sanctuary from which you could hear the ranger clearly. You could see everything clearly,but squeeze your camera lens through the blue tinted glass but squeeze your camera lens through the openings for clearer pictures. It went from 8am to 5pm (though we cleared out around 1:30 as the weather was getting a little nasty.) Well worth the $60 pp just to be protected from the elements. They also let us sit in the chairs as we sailed away (but anyone could use it at that time.)

[vbmom87]

You could see everything clearly,but squeeze your camera lens through the blue tinted glass but squeeze your camera lens through the openings for clearer pictures.

 

Your sanctuary experience sounded great until I read this. Could you please clarify what the actual viewing and picture taking opportunities were? Were you behind plexiglass for this experience?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

 

Glad you had a wonderful land and cruise.

[Smokeyham]

We booked the Sanctuary on board the first day. We had sailed Princess before and took our friends up to see it. We didn't know about the package and then saw a sign when we got up there. We were able to book 6 chairs along the side. It was perfect as you could walk to the other side and get a 360 view. We were protected from the wind and somewhat from the rain. They did a very good job of keeping those who had not booked it out of the Sanctuary. It included a Princess thermal cup with hot chocolate or coffee (with alcohol if you wanted it), Sanctuary earmuffs which they told us to keep and a photo (it may also have included other items as well of which I was not aware). They provided us with blankets and served some pastries in the morning and clam chowder later. You could also order off the Sanctuary menu. They also had speakers in the sanctuary from which you could hear the ranger clearly. You could see everything clearly,but squeeze your camera lens through the blue tinted glass but squeeze your camera lens through the openings for clearer pictures. It went from 8am to 5pm (though we cleared out around 1:30 as the weather was getting a little nasty.) Well worth the $60 pp just to be protected from the elements. They also let us sit in the chairs as we sailed away (but anyone could use it at that time.)

 

Thanks for the information. If I am reading this correctly, the package is $60 per person for one day's access to the sanctuary, which includes the items you mentioned above?

 

You purchased six seats, but I assume there is no minimum group size?

 

I am thinking of purchasing this for our day in Glacier Bay.

[stlrod]

You are behind plexiglass in the Sanctuary (but you may want to be depending on the weather and you can easily walk to the back portion of the sanctuary and view everything w/o plexiglass.) There is no minimum of which I am aware. $60 per person for the one day.

[Smokeyham]

You are behind plexiglass in the Sanctuary (but you may want to be depending on the weather and you can easily walk to the back portion of the sanctuary and view everything w/o plexiglass.) There is no minimum of which I am aware. $60 per person for the one day.

 

Thanks so much! That is very helpful. Sounds like a nice treat, even with a balcony cabin.

[frugaltravel]

You are behind plexiglass in the Sanctuary (but you may want to be depending on the weather and you can easily walk to the back portion of the sanctuary and view everything w/o plexiglass.)

 

The plexiglass is a huge disadvantage at the glacier. If the ship turns to the side at Glacier Bay, like it always does, then only one person can really be at the back portion to view/take photos. I was above the Sanctuary last week and it was much better - fewer people than at Sanctuary, larger, no plexiglass and could easily move from side to back to other side. Plus, no $60 fee :). I was quite surprised at the number of people paying for the sanctuary that day when there was so much better viewing for free! But Princess has the "upselling" down to a science.

[stlrod]

Frugaltravel, I'm not sure how you can say one was better than the other when you didn't experience it just like I can't describe what the experience was for others outside the Sanctuary (but hey, it's Alaska, so whatever one chooses to do is going to be great.) Also, are you sure you were above the Sanctuary? There is nothing above it (other than the platform above the Platinum Studio which is set back from the rear of the Sanctuary and doesn't really offer a good view of the inside of the Sanctuary.) And by my count, there were only 17 of us in the Sanctuary and we could easily step outside of it when we wanted to and then right back in. You can also just either look with your eyes or binoculars or slip a lens through the openings between the plexiglass throughout the Sanctuary. The only issue we encountered was one woman who preferred not to get up from her lounger at the Glacier "shooing" us when we stood in front of her for a very short time. (I was kind enough not to do it to her husband when he stood in front of me.) But she was the only one sitting and everyone else was standing and very willing to share space with others from the other side when the time came (and there was a lot of space.)

[vbmom87]

I would not pay to sit behind plexiglass. On one of our cruises we went to a deck with plexiglass and quickly left. It was not the way I wanted to see Alaska. Might be great for some, but not what I am looking for. Thanks to those who clarified this.

[vjblk]

"Ketchikan--Hired a taxi driver and had him take us to Totem Bight as soon as we got off ship (great being the only ones there.) We went back and picked up rest of party and he showed us south part of Ketchikan."

 

 

Can I ask how much the taxi driver cost out to Totem Bight? We would like to see this park but not sure we want to catch the bus. Thanks.