Coral Princess to Alaska--likes/dislikes

[fireflymd]

What did you like about your Coral Princess cruisetour to Alaska? What didn't you like?

[caribill]

What did you like about your Coral Princess cruisetour to Alaska? What didn't you like?

 

Princess offers a number of cruisetours in Alaska. Which one did you select?

 

For a review of the tour part of our cruisetour this summer, see http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1727858

[Budget Queen]

Princess has an excellent itinerary for their ships, including two wonderful scenic glacier sailing days.

 

Their cruisetours are another story. Repeatively, I see people making purchases they don't fully have all the details, and make wrong assumptions.

 

Basic with cruisetours- go for as long as you can afford, time is your friend. Princess has, what I consider some very poorly planned short cruisetours, that are essentially all transit, missing out on significant highlights.

 

The other main feature of the tours is Denali park, this is generally the highlight. Be CERTAIN, you understand fully what this is and select, and plan for what YOU want. Many people don't have a clue. :) My only recommendation is 2 nights at the Denali Princess. For more- CANCEL your costly included "tour", and use that money- with change left over, for the SHUTTLE bus to at least Eielson. In August/Sept, get to Wonder Lake. :)

 

details http://www.nps.gov/dena

 

Budget 50% for meals. And finally, make good tour selections. :)

[AKman2495]

Budget 50% for meals.

 

Don't you mean budget 50% more for meals than you otherwise would?

[capriccio]

We didn't have time for a cruisetour this summer but you can read my review of the cruise on the Coral here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1680904

 

It's a great ship and a wonderful cruise!

[Budget Queen]

Don't you mean budget 50% more for meals than you otherwise would?

 

Yikes- sure do. :)

[fireflymd]

Princess offers a number of cruisetours in Alaska. Which one did you select?

 

For a review of the tour part of our cruisetour this summer, see http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1727858

 

Thank you for your wonderful review! Really appreciate it.

[dread_pirate]

I didn't do a tour, but did the Coral. I can say that I really enjoyed the Coral - had great service, decent food and the pastry chef was a genius! The one thing I didn't like was Kathy the "naturalist." Her talks were all about her childhood in Alaska. I'm sure she enjoyed it, but frankly, I don't care how she arrived or her childhood memories. I wanted to hear about Alaska nature and maybe some history, more broadly than just her experiences. (And she also hawked her books way too much.) After a while, I stopped going to her talks.

 

Would I do the Coral again? Absolutely, even with Kathy! It's just an amazing trip!

[Coral]

I didn't do a tour, but did the Coral. I can say that I really enjoyed the Coral - had great service, decent food and the pastry chef was a genius! The one thing I didn't like was Kathy the "naturalist."

 

Kathy was on the Golden 2 or 3 years ago when I sailed to Alaska. I agree with you. She is not a naturalist by any means - it was more of living in a remote area of Alaska. I didn't care for her talks either. It is sad as the Coral used to have "Barbara" for years as the Naturalist and she was excellent but I don't think she is doing ships anymore as I haven't heard her name come up.

 

The Coral is a great ship!

[Kirsten T]

We were on Island - no difference from Coral. Liked being on a slightly smaller ship, and the Coral/Island north and southbound itineraries are the best. We chose to do a land tour on our own because none of the land options appealed to us. I second budget Queen's comments; if you think you want to do a land tour, do some serious research first. Denali is a true wilderness park. It's not a place where you go to see bears and wolves; it's a place where you sit on a bus for 8 hours and hope you see bears and wolves, if they happen to be near the road. We loved the wild character of the place, but heard many people talking as if they expected a zoo. Princess (and other cruise line) brochures don't do it justice. Do your own research to decide if you really want to see Denali, Kenai or other wilderness areas. The cruise itself is a life-changing trip, and I would not have been disappointed if we'd skipped the land tour. (And yeah, everything in Alaska is eye-poppingly expensive. Everything gets there by flying; even most of the food. But it's worth it.)

[fireflymd]

I didn't do a tour, but did the Coral. I can say that I really enjoyed the Coral - had great service, decent food and the pastry chef was a genius! The one thing I didn't like was Kathy the "naturalist." Her talks were all about her childhood in Alaska. I'm sure she enjoyed it, but frankly, I don't care how she arrived or her childhood memories. I wanted to hear about Alaska nature and maybe some history, more broadly than just her experiences. (And she also hawked her books way too much.) After a while, I stopped going to her talks.

 

Would I do the Coral again? Absolutely, even with Kathy! It's just an amazing trip!

 

We were on Island - no difference from Coral. Liked being on a slightly smaller ship, and the Coral/Island north and southbound itineraries are the best. We chose to do a land tour on our own because none of the land options appealed to us. I second budget Queen's comments; if you think you want to do a land tour, do some serious research first. Denali is a true wilderness park. It's not a place where you go to see bears and wolves; it's a place where you sit on a bus for 8 hours and hope you see bears and wolves, if they happen to be near the road. We loved the wild character of the place, but heard many people talking as if they expected a zoo. Princess (and other cruise line) brochures don't do it justice. Do your own research to decide if you really want to see Denali, Kenai or other wilderness areas. The cruise itself is a life-changing trip, and I would not have been disappointed if we'd skipped the land tour. (And yeah, everything in Alaska is eye-poppingly expensive. Everything gets there by flying; even most of the food. But it's worth it.)

 

Thanks for responding--we have heard the Tundra Wilderness Tour is preferable to the Denali tour that Princess initially provides. The most frustrating thing I have experienced is that Princess will not allow me to upgrade the tour myself since we booked our cruise and land tour through a travel agent who has not returned my last two e-mails. I'm going to call him tomorrow but I'm already disappointed in him for his complete lack of guidance in booking this trip.

[fireflymd]

We didn't have time for a cruisetour this summer but you can read my review of the cruise on the Coral here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1680904

 

It's a great ship and a wonderful cruise!

 

Great review! Thanks so much for posting this!

 

I finally found the Coral Princess Alaska review pages, so I am now happily reading through others' reviews as well.

[RickEk]

Thanks for responding--we have heard the Tundra Wilderness Tour is preferable to the Denali tour that Princess initially provides. The most frustrating thing I have experienced is that Princess will not allow me to upgrade the tour myself since we booked our cruise and land tour through a travel agent who has not returned my last two e-mails. I'm going to call him tomorrow but I'm already disappointed in him for his complete lack of guidance in booking this trip.

 

 

Yes, once you've booked with a TA, Princess can only answer general questions about the cruisetour. Sounds like you need to get a different TA.

[Coral]

Thanks for responding--we have heard the Tundra Wilderness Tour is preferable to the Denali tour that Princess initially provides. The most frustrating thing I have experienced is that Princess will not allow me to upgrade the tour myself since we booked our cruise and land tour through a travel agent who has not returned my last two e-mails. I'm going to call him tomorrow but I'm already disappointed in him for his complete lack of guidance in booking this trip.

 

I would be upset also. Definitely try really hard to get a hold of him. And if he hasn't been out of town or had a family emergency, let him know what you expect in returning phone calls/emails. Totally unacceptable (unless there is a family emergency).

 

You can also book the shuttle (not Tundra Tour) on your own and when you get a hold of him, cancel the Natural History tour.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Agree with all said...Princess does a nice job with the tours but make sure you pick a longer one that includes as many two night stays as possible so you minimize the amount of days spent traveling from place to place. Also look at tours where you are not "backtracking"...i.e. starting in Anchorage, going northbound, ending at Fairbanks, then having to get from Fairbanks back to the ship. This is wasted time but some of the tours do this. Just be careful and know what you are getting!

[Budget Queen]

Thanks for responding--we have heard the Tundra Wilderness Tour is preferable to the Denali tour that Princess initially provides. The most frustrating thing I have experienced is that Princess will not allow me to upgrade the tour myself since we booked our cruise and land tour through a travel agent who has not returned my last two e-mails. I'm going to call him tomorrow but I'm already disappointed in him for his complete lack of guidance in booking this trip.

 

Are you fully aware of your options? Do you know about the shuttle buses?

 

Your first mistake, is you do NOT upgrade your tour with Princess. If you are going to change this, then just get a REFUND, and leave them out of anything further with Denali park.

 

You are going to then want to go direct http://www.reservedenali.com and book your own Tundra Wilderness tour, for a time YOU want. IF you continue to go with a princess booking (yes, I know, some people want "everything" taken care of etc etc and can't/won't do anything on their own) you are going to get a "morning" or "afternoon" TWT and won't be picking your own time. You can end up with a 6am bus or 11am bus.

 

IF you want to go some extra planning- again, I know many people do not, you can get even further into the park, which is my min. recommendation- to Eielson Visitor Center.

 

IF you want the details of booking, just repost. Two nights really are the min. at Denali Princess. IF at all possible with any cruisetour selection- that should be a major priority.

[fireflymd]

Yes, once you've booked with a TA, Princess can only answer general questions about the cruisetour. Sounds like you need to get a different TA.

 

I would be upset also. Definitely try really hard to get a hold of him. And if he hasn't been out of town or had a family emergency, let him know what you expect in returning phone calls/emails. Totally unacceptable (unless there is a family emergency).

 

You can also book the shuttle (not Tundra Tour) on your own and when you get a hold of him, cancel the Natural History tour.

 

He told us he would be out of the office on vacation until a certain date, so I e-mailed on that date and then a few days later. He is our second TA. The first TA was really pushing Celebrity (as this one did as well), and we understand that the cruiselines reward TA's who book exclusively with their line. If we ever do another cruise again I will call the cruiseline to see if they have anyone they would recommend.

 

It's funny, but the first travel agent we sat down with kept pushing Celebrity and the spa "Oh, the spa!". We just laughed and explained we weren't on the cruise ship for the spa or the food, we wanted a good itinerary to Alaska and I really liked Princess' itinerary. He also completely ignored the fact we were travelling with two teenagers. I know more about his experience with the spa on Celebrity than I care to know. Clueless.

 

Then when I asked him if Celebrity had a similar itinerary to the one I chose on Princess he passed the brochure to me for me to find one that was similar.

 

This TA did the same, except his focus was on the food. We explained that it was more important to us to see the glaciers and I liked the Princess itinerary; he then handed me the Celebrity brochure to search out a similar cruisetour! Don't you know the cruise tours?!!

 

Well, it's obvious he doesn't kinow them because he booked a ridiculously late flight into Anchorage, telling my DH that was all that was available even though this was done independently of Princess. DH agreed to this before I could search out flights on my own but has graciously told me he will pay the penalty for our non-refundable tickets to get us into Anchorage earlier.

 

So disappointed in our travel agent experience in general.

[Coral]

He told us he would be out of the office on vacation until a certain date, so I e-mailed on that date and then a few days later. He is our second TA. The first TA was really pushing Celebrity (as this one did as well), and we understand that the cruiselines reward TA's who book exclusively with their line. If we ever do another cruise again I will call the cruiseline to see if they have anyone they would recommend.

 

 

Sorry :( Like any profession - there are good ones and not so good ones. Hopefully you find a good one in the future!

[Budget Queen]

He told us he would be out of the office on vacation until a certain date, so I e-mailed on that date and then a few days later. He is our second TA. The first TA was really pushing Celebrity (as this one did as well), and we understand that the cruiselines reward TA's who book exclusively with their line. If we ever do another cruise again I will call the cruiseline to see if they have anyone they would recommend.

 

It's funny, but the first travel agent we sat down with kept pushing Celebrity and the spa "Oh, the spa!". We just laughed and explained we weren't on the cruise ship for the spa or the food, we wanted a good itinerary to Alaska and I really liked Princess' itinerary. He also completely ignored the fact we were travelling with two teenagers. I know more about his experience with the spa on Celebrity than I care to know. Clueless.

 

Then when I asked him if Celebrity had a similar itinerary to the one I chose on Princess he passed the brochure to me for me to find one that was similar.

 

This TA did the same, except his focus was on the food. We explained that it was more important to us to see the glaciers and I liked the Princess itinerary; he then handed me the Celebrity brochure to search out a similar cruisetour! Don't you know the cruise tours?!!

 

Well, it's obvious he doesn't kinow them because he booked a ridiculously late flight into Anchorage, telling my DH that was all that was available even though this was done independently of Princess. DH agreed to this before I could search out flights on my own but has graciously told me he will pay the penalty for our non-refundable tickets to get us into Anchorage earlier.

 

So disappointed in our travel agent experience in general.

 

This is very common, it is rare for Travel Agents to know much about Alaska past what is written. Many haven't even been there. I get emails frequently from travel agents asking for trip planning for clients, clearly not knowing even basics themselves.

 

With an "importance" of seeing glaciers, actually the Prince William Sound boat tours out of Whittier are superb. Getting far closer than any viewing from the cruiseships. :)

[Woobstr112G]

Princess offers a number of cruisetours in Alaska. Which one did you select?

 

For a review of the tour part of our cruisetour this summer, see http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1727858

 

Just had a chance to look over your review. I loved all of your pictures. I epecially loved the rafting pictures.....:):):)

Bob