Alaskan Cruisetour

[BigWI]

Well,

 

Left yesterday 2:30 pm Central time. Got to the airport about 4:00 (ran a couple last minute errands). Plane took off at 5:30 flew to Minneapolis, layover, flew to Seattle, Layover, flew to Fairbanks. Landed in Fairbanks 2:00 AM (5:00 am Central Time)

 

Luggage destroyed on flight here, both wheels ripped off, not covered by Delta.:mad:

 

My first impressions of princess.......

 

 

WOW :D, got our packet at the airport, put our luggage in a holding area, got on a bus.

 

Got to the hotel about 2:45, went straight to our room no check in needed. About 3:45 out luggage showed up. Went to bed.

 

Really impress with the Lodge and room. I would guess the room is about 25x30, (not including hall & Bathroom). King sixe bed, sofa, Desk & Chairs. Much bigger than I would have imagined.

 

Breakfast Buffet, $15.99/person, expensive but not unexpected.

 

Got a day to rest before the river cruise tomorrow & Trip to Denali.

 

Packet include tags to split luggage, Join me on board and Join me tonight.

Nice, we don't have to haul all our luggage everywhere.

 

Off to see Fairbanks (what there is of it).

 

So far, other than destroyed luggage, off to a great start.

[Rhonbru]

keep posting....I think you are doing the same tour as us but we are doing the next one, we leave next monday, we also get in a day early.....please post what you do in fairbanks....looking forward to reading your posts

[RNGALNG]

Did you fly EZ air through Princess? If so, could Princess cover the wheels on your suitcase? Or whatever trip insurance you took for your adventures?

 

Enjoy your adventures! Can't wait to hear your thoughts. . .

[WisCruiser2]

We did the Cruisetour 12 years ago (in August) & I would love to go again, so I'll be enjoying a virtual tour with you :D Bet the weather will be warmer than in Wisco!

[BigWI]

keep posting....I think you are doing the same tour as us but we are doing the next one, we leave next monday, we also get in a day early.....please post what you do in fairbanks....looking forward to reading your posts

 

Nothing to do or see in Fairbanks! Typical small town USA

[BigWI]

We did the Cruisetour 12 years ago (in August) & I would love to go again, so I'll be enjoying a virtual tour with you :D Bet the weather will be warmer than in Wisco!

 

Im guessing about 60, great outside, Unfortunately they still have the boilers going so if you turn the fan on , it blows out hot air.

 

Minor inconvenience, we just turned the blowers off and opened the windows.

 

Sitting outside on the deck at the lodge having an MGD and reading a book (or will be when I am done here).

[BigWI]

Did you fly EZ air through Princess? If so, could Princess cover the wheels on your suitcase? Or whatever trip insurance you took for your adventures?

 

Enjoy your adventures! Can't wait to hear your thoughts. . .

 

Good thought, but No to EZ and no to trip insurance. Chalk that up as a life lesson.

[WisCruiser2]

.Sitting outside on the deck at the lodge having an MGD and reading a book (or will be when I am done here).

 

What? You're not having an Alaskan beer? You can get an MGD at home!

[BigWI]

What? You're not having an Alaskan beer? You can get an MGD at home!

 

Actually I did! I had a Denali ale. I am just use to writing MGD.;)

[BigWI]

One Minor issue with the princess lodge.

 

Every hotel/motel I have ever stayed at from motel 6 to Hilton to Disney Resorts had free coffee in the lobby, Here it is $2.50.

 

I can make it in the room, but I am in the lobby while my wife sleeps in a bit.

 

Anyway off to the river tour in couple hours then onto Denali.

 

The Staff here must take bubbly pills, they are all so friendly, bubbly, outgoing and helpful.

[Northender]

Following you on this thread. I will be interested to hear about Denali.

Enjoy your day.:):)

[Loonbeam]

Coffee is one of the highest priced grocery products in AK from what I understand, none can be produced there and it all has to come in via ship or train with a perishable date.

 

 

Every hotel/motel I have ever stayed at from motel 6 to Hilton to Disney Resorts had free coffee in the lobby, Here it is $2.50.

 

 

 

[jnc411]

Have a great time, we did the land tour last Sept. before our cruise and the whole experience was great. Wait till you see Denali lodge , it is huge, the restaurants are nice.. and be sure to try the Salmon Chowder , yummy. Enjoy..

Cori

[AKman2495]

Consider yourself lucky. They weather so far has been great. Wait till you get to Anchorage.

 

As for the coffee....Welcome to Alaska;)

[aggie76]

Cant wait to hear more, we leave May 24 for the pre cruise.

[MVPinBoynton]

Thanks so much for posting we will be going the opposite way in 2.5 weeks.

[hockeygal54]

We did the cruise tour Aug '12 and loved AK so much we're doing a B2B next August! I assume you are staying @ the Princess Lodge that is across the street from what I'd refer to a "strip mall. Jeff King has a store front there, Harley shop, Subway (open for breakfast!!), couple of liquor stores and a couple of restaurants. Several shops of course. I picked up a six pack of the AK beer with the Orca on the label and had beer to take on the bus to the next lodge! Not DRINK on the bus, just wasnt leaving it behind. I liked the first lodge best just because there were so many choices available. The second one held a captive audience and you had to get stuff there or take the shuttle all the way into Talkeetna. I think it was a small fee also. Now if you had purchased beer etc in Denali......garbage cans with ice make great beer coolers!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[BigWI]

We continue to be impressed by how organized Princess is.

 

After Breakfast we get ready to take out tour (along with several hundred of our closest friends). Go out of the lodge and 8 motor coach busses pull up. On our welcome packet they specified which bus was ours. As we get on the driver checks our names off to make sure we are on the right bus.

 

We get to the river tour, and get our tickets and get in line, then in about 10 minutes we board the boat. Free coffee & donuts on board plus food to buy you like. We sit in the front row of the third deck, out side, not necessarily the smartest move it was a bit cool outside, but hey, we're from Wisconsin we can handle it.

 

The tour was very interesting, went down river for a little over an hour then turned around. on the way back we stopped at a mock up of a native village (I'm not going to try to spell the names). the village tour had 3 stops where natives explained their history and lifestyle both before and after the white man arrived.

 

Then got back on the boat and returned to dock for lunch. If you take the tour, choose the Stew lunch, it was very good.

 

The got on the same bus and came down to Denali Princess lodge, about a 3 hour drive. When we got here a representative came on the bus, and talked for a couple of minutes. As we got off he handed us our welcome packets which included room keys, room assignments and tomorrows tour information.

 

The lodge is beautiful, seems to be fairly new it is HUGE, 15 buildings!

 

Again our room is very nice, not quite as big as in Fairbanks more like a normal hotel room. Our luggage is in our room waiting for us!

 

In Fairbanks you were pretty much stuck eating at the lodge, here there options very close by, as others described, a "strip mall" across the street. t

 

Tomorrow we take the Natural History tour.

 

BTW I'm not spell or grammar checking, apologies to my HS & college English teachers

Edited May 16, 2014 by BigWI

[Working 2 Cruise]

This is wonderful, thank you!

[Loonbeam]

Please, if you see this, see if you can change to the Tundra Wilderness Tour for tomorrow.

 

The Natural History tour is MUCH shorter, barely goes into the park and features an Indian Presentation. The TWT goes about 4-5 hours into the park giving you much more time to have a chance to see animals or a great denali sighting.

 

DO bring snacks, they give you a snack box but its small and its an 8 hour tour.

 

We continue to be impressed by how organized Princess is.

 

After Breakfast we get ready to take out tour (along with several hundred of our closest friends). Go out of the lodge and 8 motor coach busses pull up. On our welcome packet they specified which bus was ours. As we get on the driver checks our names off to make sure we are on the right bus.

 

We get to the river tour, and get our tickets and get in line, then in about 10 minutes we board the boat. Free coffee & donuts on board plus food to buy you like. We sit in the front row of the third deck, out side, not necessarily the smartest move it was a bit cool outside, but hey, we're from Wisconsin we can handle it.

 

The tour was very interesting, went down river for a little over an hour then turned around. on the way back we stopped at a mock up of a native village (I'm not going to try to spell the names). the village tour had 3 stops where natives explained their history and lifestyle both before and after the white man arrived.

 

Then got back on the boat and returned to dock for lunch. If you take the tour, choose the Stew lunch, it was very good.

 

The got on the same bus and came down to Denali Princess lodge, about a 3 hour drive. When we got here a representative came on the bus, and talked for a couple of minutes. As we got off he handed us our welcome packets which included room keys, room assignments and tomorrows tour information.

 

The lodge is beautiful, seems to be fairly new it is HUGE, 15 buildings!

 

Again our room is very nice, not quite as big as in Fairbanks more like a normal hotel room. Our luggage is in our room waiting for us!

 

In Fairbanks you were pretty much stuck eating at the lodge, here there options very close by, as others described, a "strip mall" across the street. t

 

Tomorrow we take the Natural History tour.

 

BTW I'm not spell or grammar checking, apologies to my HS & college English teachers

[hockeygal54]

It's only May. TWT may not be a choice this early as the park not open past a certain point until June I believe due to weather etc.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[BigWI]

Please, if you see this, see if you can change to the Tundra Wilderness Tour for tomorrow.

 

The Natural History tour is MUCH shorter, barely goes into the park and features an Indian Presentation. The TWT goes about 4-5 hours into the park giving you much more time to have a chance to see animals or a great denali sighting.

 

DO bring snacks, they give you a snack box but its small and its an 8 hour tour.

 

we tried booking the TWT when we booked our excursions, about a month ago and it wasn't an option so maybe they don't start them yet or it was sold out.

 

thanks for the advice, I do appreciate it.

[Loonbeam]

Good to know. Denali is still awesome!

 

we tried booking the TWT when we booked our excursions, about a month ago and it wasn't an option so maybe they don't start them yet or it was sold out.

 

thanks for the advice, I do appreciate it.

[hllwdcruiser]

Thank you so much for posting - we are booked on the Coral for Alaska in June 2015 with a short cruise tour prior - so I will be following your trip avidly!

How expensive are the meals? Can you give me an idea of how much we should budget to cover breakfast, lunch and dinner?

[Loonbeam]

I pulled up my 2009 numbers for reference:

 

Fairbanks - about $30 per person for dinner, $20 for breakfast. One of our tours included dinner.

Denali - $12 pp breakfast at Subway across the street, $45 pp dinner in the nice restaurant, $15pp pizza place

McKinley - $50pp dinner, $20pp breakfast.

Train - $20pp lunch (Get the venison chili)

 

These are based on nice entrees, no alcohol, soft drinks and usually appetizer or dessert.

 

-

Thank you so much for posting - we are booked on the Coral for Alaska in June 2015 with a short cruise tour prior - so I will be following your trip avidly!

How expensive are the meals? Can you give me an idea of how much we should budget to cover breakfast, lunch and dinner?