First Alaska, First Princess

[mevs904]

Hi Folks, newbie here! We are sailing on the August 5 northbound Coral Princess followed by a 4 night land tour to the Denali and McKinley Princess Lodges. Prior to our embarkation we will e spending two nights in Seattle and Three nights in Vancouver. We've been "lurking' on the boards for a while and have truly appreciated all of the wonderful information that the CC posters have shared. We are so excited about our trip and will continue to look for as many tips as we can.

A bit of information. We are a youngish couple in our 60s from upstate NY. We have previous cruised on Disney and RCCL. We have a starboard balcony cabin for this cruise and have already booked a what watch excursion with Harv & Marv and have extended the standard Denali tour to the longer Denali Wilderness Tour. Our next decision will be to book a White Pass Railroad excursion. We are considering the Chilkoot tour that includes lunch and Emerald Lake or just the standard train ride offered by Princess.

We'll be happy to hear any suggestions concerning any part of the trip that posters would like to offer.

TIA!

[Budget Queen]

Hi Folks, newbie here! We are sailing on the August 5 northbound Coral Princess followed by a 4 night land tour to the Denali and McKinley Princess Lodges. Prior to our embarkation we will e spending two nights in Seattle and Three nights in Vancouver. We've been "lurking' on the boards for a while and have truly appreciated all of the wonderful information that the CC posters have shared. We are so excited about our trip and will continue to look for as many tips as we can.

A bit of information. We are a youngish couple in our 60s from upstate NY. We have previous cruised on Disney and RCCL. We have a starboard balcony cabin for this cruise and have already booked a what watch excursion with Harv & Marv and have extended the standard Denali tour to the longer Denali Wilderness Tour. Our next decision will be to book a White Pass Railroad excursion. We are considering the Chilkoot tour that includes lunch and Emerald Lake or just the standard train ride offered by Princess.

We'll be happy to hear any suggestions concerning any part of the trip that posters would like to offer.

TIA!

 

 

With Princess and their still giving refunds, an alternative, I would suggest is getting yourself to Eielson Visitor Center and canceling the TWT. Superior for distance and well worth the effort to get to Eielson.

 

However- you do not mention your itinerary, and hopefully you have 2 nights at Denali Princess?

 

If you want the commentary and glacier views to match up, you need to have a port side view in Glacier Bay. There usually isn't any commentary in the other direction.

[sammiedawg]

The Coral Princess is one of our favorite ships and we just did the Northbound sailing.

Find the viewing area all the way forward off the Baja deck. This is the best place for scenic cruising and the Coral naturalist hangs out here. The naturalist is great, attend his lectures and get to know him, Mark Harris.

 

Also watch your Princess patter for the special Alaska events. Libby Riddles speaks in Juneau, she won the Iditarod. For Ketchikan we had an Alaska lumberjack on board and he did a show. Other sailings have someone from the Deadliest Catch fishing boat on board. One of the deadliest catch crab boats gives tours in Ketchikan and is moored right next to the Princess berth. You can book it on your own to save a few bucks over what Princess sells it for,. Bering sea crab fishermans tour, Google it, book on their web site. It sells out.

Attend the lecture in Glacier bay given by the park rangers.

 

For Skagway we have gone out a couple times with dyea Dave, a private tour. You can go round trip in his van to Emerald Lake or you can come back via the train. He is terrific and his price is excellent. He has a web site, Google him. We used him last month.

 

We've taken the Tundra wilderness tour twice and it meets our needs. Eight hours long.

Edited June 11, 2015 by sammiedawg

[mevs904]

Thanks, Budget Queen. I've been following your posts with great interest and realized that we will have to head to the port side to take advantage of the commentary in Glacier Bay. We weren't planning on doing much viewing from our balcony on Glacier Bay day so we will probably go to the forward viewing area off of the Baja deck as well as viewing from the promenade deck. We do plan on bundling up as we don't want to miss anything. We will look into Elieson and yes, we do have two nights at the Denali Princess. BTW, I was brought up in central NY so I particularly like your post. We are in the Albany area now.

Sammiedawg, we will look into dyes Dave. We like the idea of something more than the same train ride up and back (as much as I love trains). Our time in Ketchican is pretty short so we may stick to exploring the town. WE are definitely committed to going o all of the naturalist's lectures and are really looking forward to Libby Riddles. Do you know if they sell her children's book on board and if it might be possible to have her autograph it? We would love to give it to our grandsons.

Edited June 11, 2015 by mevs904

[Coral]

Skagway - I would look into a combination of train/small bus that Chilkot does. Emerald Lake is nice to see.

 

I have no experience with Dyea Dave but have heard good things.

[sammiedawg]

Yes, Libby brings her books and signs them. We bought the one about the cat, I think his name is Danger. We've heard Libby speak at least four times and never miss her.

Enjoy Alaska.

[Budget Queen]

I too highly recommend Dyea Dave. You get a great tour with the ability of adding the train.

[sammiedawg]

I thought of a suggestion for day 1 at Denali. We arrived at the Denali Princess lodge around noon. You can Grab a bite then take the shuttle to the Visitors center and try to catch the bus to the Sled dog tour. The tour is at two pm, they suggest you be at the visitors center forty minutes ahead of time but we got there at 1:45 and still caught a bus to the Husky area. It is a very interesting demo put on by park rangers and you will learn about the role of the sled dogs in the park. Afterwards the bus takes you back to the visitors center and you can see the exhibits.

At the McKinley lodge they have mountain climbing lectures, we caught two of them. The speakers are experienced climbers. They also have wildlife lectures and guided walks put on by the Alaska state Rangers.

[Workingthelist]

Hi Folks, newbie here! We are sailing on the August 5 northbound Coral Princess followed by a 4 night land tour to the Denali and McKinley Princess Lodges. Prior to our embarkation we will e spending two nights in Seattle and Three nights in Vancouver. We've been "lurking' on the boards for a while and have truly appreciated all of the wonderful information that the CC posters have shared. We are so excited about our trip and will continue to look for as many tips as we can.

A bit of information. We are a youngish couple in our 60s from upstate NY. We have previous cruised on Disney and RCCL. We have a starboard balcony cabin for this cruise and have already booked a what watch excursion with Harv & Marv and have extended the standard Denali tour to the longer Denali Wilderness Tour. Our next decision will be to book a White Pass Railroad excursion. We are considering the Chilkoot tour that includes lunch and Emerald Lake or just the standard train ride offered by Princess.

We'll be happy to hear any suggestions concerning any part of the trip that posters would like to offer.

TIA!

One of our most memorable experiences was doing The Sanctuary on Glacier Bay day. Someone had recommended to us so we did it. Pampered the whole day, the staff was wonderful, plenty to eat and drink and warm blankets and headband and even included a photo. It was worth every cent to get such an amazing view of the entire area all day long. Our weather wasn't all that great but we still had a great time. Highly recommend!!

[sweetsleep]

Definitely book the Chilkoot tour instead of Princess. We did the Bennet scenic journey trip which went as far as Emerald Lake which was just beautiful on the minivan and then picked up the train in Carcross. The lunch in Bennett was very good-make sure you walk up the hill past the church for some breathtaking views of the river as well as the lake. There was still an old boat with a number on it from the Gold Rush( the RCMP made all miners register a number on their raft/boat or canoe before they were allowed to proceed)-the number on the boat was 2024 and at the height of the Gold Rush they had around 7,000 registered "vessels"!! Great history here. You could also see discarded items off the trail left behind by miners.

[mevs904]

Thanks, sweetsleep. We're definitely leaning in that direction. A couple of quick thoughts about your trip:

When you took the train down was there any narration describing the ride?

I'm happy to hear that you had lunch in Bennett and it was good. I had read a trip report from a poster who had lunch in Carcross and said that the food was not good and the service wasn't friendly.

The history aspect of the area is also interesting to us...currently reading Michener's Alaska.

Edited June 17, 2015 by mevs904

[sherryf]

Thanks, sweetsleep. We're definitely leaning in that direction. A couple of quick thoughts about your trip:

When you took the train down was there any narration describing the ride?

I'm happy to hear that you had lunch in Bennett and it was good. I had read a trip report from a poster who had lunch in Carcross and said that the food was not good and the service wasn't friendly.

The history aspect of the area is also interesting to us...currently reading Michener's Alaska.

 

I've done both trips, and the lunch and service in Bennett are far better than Carcross. I liked the Bennett trip better overall, but I am not one to get "bored" by the long train ride, scenery, and history. There is narration on the train, describing points of interest.

[sweetsleep]

Lunch in Bennett was not gourmet but it was definitely home cooked-the stew, the homemade bread and home made apple pie. The coleslaw may have been made elsewhere but no one complained and no one went hungry.

Be sure to eat quickly and then walk up the hill and go past the old church for stunning views of the lake.

We had decent narration along the way back(we did the van up,train down). A few times it was kind of scary as some of the rail trestles looked a bit rickety. The gal who narrated was sure to point out what was about to come up and which side of the train it would be on. Nice viewing platforms front and back on each car but hard to take photos on our day due to some wind as well as a bit of a bumpy ride on the platform-but we had gorgeous sunny weather the entire day.

Now as far as the narration on the Princess car from Denali to Whittier-we had a fabulous lady who was very smart,knowledgeable and a great sense of humor-she made what could have been a long day just fly by. The Princess train was immaculate,food very good and everyone had a great time. The White Pass railcars are refurbished vintage cars so not luxurious. There was a pot belly steam stove in the back of our car if it had been cold!

[Glaciers]

The history aspect of the area is also interesting to us...currently reading Michener's Alaska.

 

This is a milepost guide for the WPYR. It provides a historical narrative along the rails. You will also find an abridged version of this onboard. They provide some commentary while onboard as you pass specific areas.

http://www.wpyrmediakit.com/mediakit/milepostguide.html

[NYCruiseNoob]

We just returned from a northbound Coral Princess tour.

 

First, enjoy Vancouver. We spent three days in a rented condo before sailing and loved it. If you like to ride bikes, be sure to rent bikes and do the seawall ride around Stanley Park...fabulous!

 

We also booked a Harv and Marv whale watch and really enjoyed it. We had Captain Steve on a small boat (6 passengers total) and it was a great time. He's never had a trip without a whale sighting.

 

We didn't do a land tour afterwards. If you want to do laundry before leaving the ship DON'T wait until the last sea day....everyone who was going on to the Denali trip was trying to do laundry at the same time!

[mevs904]

The great recommendations continue! Thank you, everyone for sharing your experiences. We are definitely thinking about renting bikes in Vancouver. We will have over two full days there. The McKinley Princess recommendations were especially helpful as we will only have one night there and weren't sure what we were going to do.

[RescueDontBuy]

Firstly sounds like you are doing a similar trip that we just came back from about a week ago. Amazing trip!!!! We were on the Star Princess with a balcony on the Starboard side. In Glacier bay they turn the ship 180 deg at least once and maybe more as the onboard naturalist narrates what you are seeing. Frankly, for the glaciers at the end of the bay you are going to want to be at the front of the ship to take it all in anyways. Here is what we did and we had a fantastic trip:

 

Vancouver - pre booked a rental car at the airport and when we arrived we drove to small town of Steveson just south of the city for a late afternoon lunch of amazing fish and chips at the Blue Canoe (sorry Alaskan Salmon Bake but your fish and chips can't match this place). We toured around the city in the car and saw the Olympic torch and China town and then out to Stanley park. We got out and spent about a half an hour in the area with all the totem poles which were awesome. Next morning we found a local place for breakfast near our hotel and then went down to Grenville island and walked

around the stores and craft centers. Very neat. My husband dropped me and the luggage at the cruise port and then dropped the car at the rental place downtown and walked to the cruise port.

 

Ketchikan - Eagles, Totems and lighthouse boat tour - booked through Princess but is the same price if you book privately

Juneau - Whale watching and Mendenhall glacier - booked privately with Dolphin tours (very good operator but there are local operators at the port that may be more economical and there are shuttles to Mendenhall directly)

tip: look for the eagles on the boardwalk between Robert's tram and the next cruise ship dock.

Skagway - Klondike highway by mini bus to Bennett lake and then back to Caribou Crossing for lunch and to see the husky puppies and the amazing mini-Smithsonian museum of current and past Alaskan animals (hint: Mammoth). Then onto the Whitepass railway for an amazing trip back to Skagway. Enough time left to shop for some souvenirs in a really neat town. - booked privately with Chilkoot tours and wouldn't do it any other way.

 

Train to Talkeetna - went to town and found Talkeetna air taxi - my husband booked the most amazing flight over Denali for the next morning and he paid half of what we saw advertised for similar flight just outside Denali park. Tip: find your way to the Roadway Restaurant and Bakery and have a piece of their blueberry pie warmed up with a nice coffee - one of life's little treasures.

Tip 2: ask a local for the way to the beach and go see if you can see Mt. McKinley in the distance.

 

Mt McKinley lodge (my favorite of all the Princess lodges we stayed at) - if you get there in time, see if the guy who gives the talk on his trips up the mountains is speaking that night and miss dinner to listen to him and see his pictures. Try to catch the snow owl presentation the next morning.

 

Denali lodge - nice and close to the park so when we arrived we dumped our stuff in the room and headed to the visitors center to get our bearings on the park and some good maps. Also we caught the last viewing of the free movie which was quite good. tip: if you want something light after all the cruise food, try the very causal pizza place on the property which is pretty good and very reasonable in price.

 

Fairbanks - Chena riverboat paddlewheel tour was included in the package and was very good. Bear lodge, it is a very nice place and the free shuttle around to key spots in town is fantastic. We had one full day before our plane left in the evening and we went to the museum of the north first, then the pioneer park and then we walked from the park along the river to the town (over one hour walk) and then through the down town shopping area which was a bit of a let down, but there is a community center which we didn't get too which might have been a better choice for us. When we got back to the hotel we had dinner and we had earlier in the day booked the private airport shuttle back to the airport (yellow business flyer) and they came exactly on time and half the cost of the Princess transfer for two people.

[Budget Queen]

In Glacier bay they turn the ship 180 deg at least once and maybe more as the onboard naturalist narrates what you are seeing. Frankly, for the glaciers at the end of the bay you are going to want to be at the front of the ship to take it all in anyways. Here is what we did and we had a fantastic trip:

 

.

 

For clarification- not sure the reference, but it is Glacier Bay National Park Rangers that give all the commentary. Not the cruise ship naturalist or Alaska Geographic Naturalist- who boards with the rangers.

[DCCRANCH]

Seattle - traffic is a nightmare 24/7. Plan for at least 2x the amount of travel time as is shown in ANY recommendations. Pikes Place Market and the Space Needle are fun.........so is Snoqualmie Falls.

We had a starboard balcony room on the Crown Princess and had great views the entire day of Glacier Bay. Like others have said........they turn the boat 360 degrees so all rooms get the same view. If you go up on deck it is just a more "open" view of everything around you. If you want to have a spot in the Sanctuary for Glacier Bay day then you need to go make those reservations FIRST THING when you get on the boat. We waited a few hours and they only had interior seating left......not windows. It was around $60 per person for the day.