Question for Pam in MA

[crusdiva]

Pam,

Just a follow-up question...I asked this on the other thread about North or Southbound in Alaska, but I guess you didn't see it. I'm hoping you can give me some insight to flights. DH and I will be sailing from Whittier on the Coral in September - our first cruise to Alaska, doing the 4 day land portion first. We're flying from Boston into Fairbanks and are letting Princess schedule our air.

Final payment next Thursday :D

Did you use Princess for your air?

If so, how did they route you from Boston. I know you mentioned 22 hours of travel time, I'm assuming that you had a layover somewhere.

I'm just curious at this point.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Pam in CA]

Sharon... yes, we used Princess air because it was quite a bit less expensive than booking it on our own. Both my TA and I checked flights for over six months, looking for a better deal. Couldn't find it.

 

I'll have to look up the details of the flights but as I remember, we left BOS at about 9AM and flew directly to Seattle, arriving at about 12:30PM PT. We had a 4-hour layover in Seattle, leaving at 4:30PM to Anchorage and then to Fairbanks. I'm not sure you can fly directly from Seattle to Fairbanks but it wasn't a big deal to land in Anchorage as you stay on the plane and the turnaround is very quick. There was another flight that left Seattle to Anchorage to Fairbanks at 2:30PM PT I wish they had put us on. My sister and BIL were on that flight coming from LAX.

 

We arrived in Fairbanks at about 9PM Alaska time (4 hour difference from ET) and by the time we identified our luggage and got to the hotel, it was about 11PM (3AM ET.) They were late bringing the luggage from the airport to the hotel room so I wound up not getting to bed until after midnight (4AM ET.) It was about 21 - 22 hours from the time we left home until we were in our room in Fairbanks.

 

I don't think we on the East Coast realize the distances -- it wasn't until I checked the flights that I realized that it's as long to fly from Seattle to Anchorage as it is for us to fly from BOS to FLL. Think about it. :) Fairbanks was about another hour after Anchorage.

 

Try to get a seat on the right hand side of the plane. I had a window seat and since it was light even that late at night, the scenery flying over the coastal mountains of Alaska was stupendous. I wish I'd had my camera ready.

 

Returning from Vancouver to BOS was a cinch. It was a just over 5-hour flight on Air Canada.

 

If I had to do it over again, the only change I'd make is to fly to Fairbanks an extra day earlier. It was very tiring to get up at 7AM the next morning to take the tour bus around Fairbanks and then spend the day on the train to Denali. I'd pay the extra fee to see if we could fly in the day before and get the earlier flight to Anchorage and Fairbanks (you stay on the same plane, same seat). That would have shortened the trip by 2 hours.

 

Hope this helps!

 

:) Pam

[franzi56]

We are leaving Boston on Sunday for a land tour then southbound cruise on the Island Princess. We let Princess do our air and we are quite pleased with the arrangements. We fly Boston to Minneapolis, then Minneapolis to Fairbanks. This is on Northwest. We leave Boston at 1:10 p,m. and are due to arrive in Fairbanks at 7:51 p.m.

 

Our return flight from Va ncouver is on Air Canada and is non-stop. We leave Vancouver at 1:50 p.m. and arrive in Boston at 10:06 p.m.

[crusdiva]

Thank you Pam and Franzi for your quick, detailed responses.

It's weird isn't it, how differently you were ticketed by Princess.

We tend to let Princess book our air for our tricky flights - opened ended - and we've always been pretty lucky. We have never been to Alaska and are just trying to get as much information as we can.

I have just talked to my TA and she said that there was no way she could beat Princess' air, scheduling or prices. She said it looked like the only flights back from Vancouver were in the early morning probably because the cruiselines have block space on all afternoon flights.

You were both a great help. Thanks again.;)

[roohound]

Sharon, so glad to hear you and Bruce are doing Alaska! You know how much we loved it on the Coral :)

[crusdiva]

Sharon, so glad to hear you and Bruce are doing Alaska! You know how much we loved it on the Coral :)

roo! You're back on the boards! Where are you off to next? Hi to DH.

Yes, Alaska in 83 days - who's counting ;) . Any advice? We're doing a 4 day land package and then sailing southbound.

Can't wait to see all of our old friends on the Coral.

[Pam in CA]

It's weird isn't it, how differently you were ticketed by Princess.

Well, we went two years ago and I'm sure there have been a lot of changes since then. Franzi... sounds like your connections are better than ours.

 

Sharon... we did the same thing you're doing, i.e., the 4-day land package before the cruise and we had a great time. We were among the lucky ones in that we had clear views of Mt. McKinley from the time we were on the train to Denali right through our two days at the Mt. McKinley lodge.

 

My daughter and I did the 4WD "Safari" at the Mt. McKinley lodge where you drive a Jeep in caravan style over very rough roads into the foothills of Mt. McKinley. We had a ball on that tour.

 

Send me your email address and I'll forward on my pictures from my cruise.

 

:) Pam [pammh2@aol.com]

[roohound]

It's hard to be on CC when you don't have a cruise booked LOL It's like the boards mock you ;)

 

we're doing the Sapphire this November out of LA...got an amazingly good deal on it...and hey, once we're done with this cruise, we're platinum!

 

Looking at maybe doing the Caribbean Princess sometime next year...I'm hoping to round up some friends of mine who've been talking about doing a cruise and checking it out. I may contact you offboard about your opinions of her.

 

Also considering doing a Baltic cruise next year...but good golly, those prices (once you add in fare and shore excursions) are really high!

 

Smooches to you and Bruce :)

[crusdiva]

roo...by all means write and ask away.

Caribbean Princess is awesome and may become our winter getaway ship - it helps when you know the staff ;)

Check out our pics too, we updated them after the last cruise. DH got PADI certified on the last cruise...he's diving here in the northeast now :eek: and can't wait to get back to the warm waters of the Caribbean.

But first we have this little trip to Alaska.

The Sapphire, in November...is that a Mexican Riviera cruise? Have you done it before? We did it a few years ago and LOVED it.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[roohound]

ha ha..I've already checked out your pics :) That's what help solidify the fact I'd like to give her a go.

 

You didn't find her size and # of passengers to be too much? I know when I was on the Grand back in 2002 I was amazed to find out there were as many people onboard as there were...it sure didn't feel like that.

 

Yup, doing the Mexican Riviera....trade you MR info for Alaska info LOL ;)

 

Tell DH congrats on the PADI certification!

[crusdiva]

You didn't find her size and # of passengers to be too much? I know when I was on the Grand back in 2002 I was amazed to find out there were as many people onboard as there were...it sure didn't feel like that.

Surprisingly, no. When we first thought about the number of passengers we thought it would be overwhelming. But it's not. There were plenty of times that we'd be wandering around without a soul in sight. So in that way it's the same as the Grand. We didn't go to any shows, so I can't comment on how that was. As far as dining, there are so many choices that I think it spreads out the crowds. We were in PC and Dion had a table for us ;) so no waiting there.

 

Yup, doing the Mexican Riviera....trade you MR info for Alaska info LOL ;)

No problem...loved PV, did that on our own. In Matazlan we took the Princess excursion to the foothills of Sierra Madres (Concordia and Copala are lovey little towns and lunch in Copala was terrific) it was on awesome tour. Went horseback riding along the beach in Cabo - it was pretty good.

 

Your turn :D

[roohound]

Horseback riding in Cabo..was that thru Princess? I want to do a horseback riding excursion, but I have a fear of comng across an excursion that uses horses that aren't really well taken care of. I"ve heard good things about Randi in Mazatalan, but I'm lookng at another tour there

 

Alaska....keep in mind we went in early May so several cool excursions weren't open to us...

 

Ketchikan..we did a wildlife boat tour and toured an abandoned salmon hatchery..sounds a little boring but it was actually great!

 

Juneau....did a whale watch tour and went to the Mendenhall glacier...fabulous!

 

Skagway...did the Best of Skagway which included the White Pass railroad..you remember what a train junkie DH is LOL

 

I'm assuming you have at least a balcony..plan on spending lots of time there when you hit Glacier Bay and College Fjord.....the glaciers calving is the most incredible thing I've seen (and heard!)